Railroad-crossing.



0. POSTON.

RAILROAD CROSSING.

APPLIOATION H LED MAY 27,1909.

Patented Sept. 21, 1909.

@Jia/Z.

UNITED STATES PATENT EBEE.

OLIVER BOSTON, F ASHLEY, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO LOUISMUNDINGER, OF ASHLEY, ILLINOIS.

RAILROAD-CROSSING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 21, 1909.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER PosroN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ashley, in the county of Washington and State of Illinois,have invented a new and useful Railroad-Crossing, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to railroad crossings for use at points wheretracks intersect, the object of the invention being to provide meanswhereby the rails of either track can be adjusted whenever desired, soas to prevent pounding by cars passing over the crossing.

Another object is to construct the crossing portions of the rails ofeach track, of movably connected sections, means being provided wherebythe sections of each track can be simultaneously shifted either againstor away from the rails of the other track.

A further object is to provide operating mechanism which is simple inconstruction,

easy to operate and which is protected at all times against interferenceby accumulations of dust, snow, ice, etc.

A further object is to provide simple means whereby the various sectionsof each rail are actuated in the proper directions, one of said sectionsbeing shift-able with relation to the other sections to permit the lastmentioned sections to be moved toward each other.

lVith these and other objects in view the invention consists of certainnovel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter morefully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings z-Figure 1 is a view, partly in plan and partly insection, of the crossing, all but one corner portion of the covering` orprotecting plate being removed. Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on lineA-B Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly inlongitudinal section, of a portion of one of the crossing rails. Fig. 4is a transverse section through one of the. crossing rails.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference A, A designate themain rails of one track, and B, B designate the main rails of the othertrack at a crossing, the adjoining rails A and B coming together atangles as indicated at 1, these angle portions of the rails beingmounted upon a base-plate 2. rlhe collapsible crossing rails A areinterposed between and in alinement with the rails A, while the similarcollapsible crossing rails B are disposed between and in alinement withthe rails B. Each crossing rail consists of a base member 8, riveted orotherwise secured to the plates 2 and having parallel upstanding flanges4, the ends of which bear against the rails alining with the crossingrail. A partition 5 is arranged upon the center of the base member 3 andbetween the flanges 4, this partition being either formed integral withthe base member and its flanges, or else being separate therefrom andinsertible between the lianges. Channels 6 are formed between theflanges 4 at opposite sides of the partition 5 and each of thesechannels constitutes a guide-way for a web 7 extending downwardl from arail head 8, said head projecting beyond the end of the web andextending laterally over the flanges 4, one end of the head being soshaped as to fit snugly against the side of the head of the rail A or Bagainst which it is designed to abut, while the other end of the head iscut off obliquely as indicated at 9 in F ig. 1. Each web 7 has alongitudinal slot 10 adjacent one end and through which a. guide-pin 1lextends, there being a laterally extending stud 12 upon the other endportion of the web and designed to work within a slot 13 formedlongitudinally within one of the flanges 4. The guide-pin 11 is carriedby the two flanges.

A slot 14 extends transversely through the partition 5 and the flanges4. A shaft 15 is journaled within the partition 5 and extends throughthe center of the slot 14, said shaft having oppositely extending arms1G movable therewith and disposed within the slot 14. The ends of thesearms are designed to project beyond the flanges 4 and to work withinslots 17. extending longitudinally within strips 18 which are mountedupon the inner and outer facesof the flanges 4. @ne of these strips 18is secured to one of the flanges 4 by means of a stud 19, while theother strip is secured to the other flange 4 in the same manner, the twoconnecting studs however being located beyond opposite ends of the slot14 as clearly indicated in Fig. 1. These studs 19 extend through slots2.0 which are formed in the strip 18 so that a limited longitudinalmovement of each strip is permitted with relation to the iiange 4 towhich v as indicated at the left of Fig. 1. This filling block issecured to and movable with the shaft 15.

A transverse slot 22 is formed within the inner flange 4 and an arm 23works within this slot and is secured tothe lower end portion of theshaft 15. This arm extends beyond the inner face of said slotted flange.

A rock-shaft 24 is journaled within the middle portion of the base-plate2 and has four arms 25 radiating therefrom, one of the arms beingconnected by a link 26 to the arm 28.

It is to be understood of course that the crossing rail heretoforedescribed constitutes one of four which are located between the angles 1formed by the rails A and B. Each of these crossing rails has an arm 23which is connected by a link 26 toy one of the arms 25, it beingapparent therefore that when the shaft 24 is partly rotated, motion willbe simultaneously transmitted to all of the arms 23 and thel shaft 15from which they extend. The mechanism is so arranged that when the shaft24 is partly rotated and the shaft 15` actuated, the arnis 16 on twoopposed shafts 15 will swing short distances within the slots 17 instrips 18 while the filling blocks 21 swing out of alinement with ytheadjoining heads 8. During the completion of this turning movement of theshaft and arms, said arms will inoveagains't the end walls of the slots17 and shift the two' strips 18 in opposite directions simultaneously,thus causing the webs and heads to which the strips are attached to movetoward each other and away from the rails A or AB which have been incontact, therewith'. While this contraction of two of the cross` ingrails is taking place the shafts 15 of the other two rails are beingactuated so as to bring the arms 16 against the end walls of the' slots20v so as to spread the webs and heads apart and to bring the fillingblocks 21 into alinement therewith, it being under` stood that thisspreading action results in forcing the heads 8 against the rails A or Balining therewith. l

Various means can of course be utilized for actuating the mechanismherein de` scribed. It is preferred however to extend an arm 27 from oneof the shafts 15' and b'eyond the outer face of one of the crossingrails, said arm being pivotally connected to an actuating rod 28, whichcan be operated by means ,of a lever located in a tower, or at any othersuitable point. Vhen a train is, for example, traveling in the directionof the arrow indicated at a in Fig. 1 the operator pulls upon the rod 28so as to cause a partial rotation of the shaft 24 and of all the shafts15. The crossing rails which aline with the rails A will thus becontracted and drawn away from therails B, while the other crossingrails will be elongated and moved against the rails A. The train canthus pass over the crossing lwithout poundin'g. l/Vhen a trainapproaches the crossing along the other track it is obviously merelynecessary to reverse the', foregoing operation, whereupon' the trackwill be readju'sted at the crossingV so as to cause the parts to assumethe positions shown in Fig. 1.

It is of course to be understood that a suitable covering plate 29 ma'ybe arranged between the crossing rails and above the shaft 24 and theparts connected thereto7 this plate serving te prevent dirt, snow andice from accumnlating between the crossing rails and interfering withthe operation of the mechanism. y n v Guard rails can of course belarranged between the crossing rails, as indicated at 30, and can alsobe extended between the rails A and between the rails B, although 'onlyportions of the rails between the crossing rails have been indicated.

Obviously various changes may be made in the' construction' andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit orsacrificing the advantages of the invention.

llVhat is clainied' is 1. A railroad crossing incliiding alignlarlydisposed extensible and contractible crossing rails, each of said railsincluding spaced slidably connected members and a'n intermediaterevo'luble member, and means for actuating the members of each crossingrail.

te'nsible andv contractible crossing rail consisting of slida'blycorlnected alining members, an intermediaterevoluble member, and mjeansfor ,simultaneously:shifting the slidable mein-bers" in oppositedirections and partlyv rotating the intermediate member. 8. railroadcrossing including an extensible and contractible crossing rail, saidrail co'nsLsting of spaced alining slidable sections and an intermediatepartly revoluble section, an actuating device, and means op'- eratedthereby for simultaneously shifting the sl'i'dable sections in' oppositedirections and moving the partly revolublle sections into or out of'yalin'ement therewith.

4. In a railroad crossing a crossing rail consisting of a base member,webs slidably 2. A railroad crossing including an exiio mounted thereonand having rail heads, slotted devices connected to thev respectivewebs, a spacing section mounted for swinging movement between the headsof the webs, a shaft movable therewith, means eX- tending from the shaftfor simultaneously engaging the slotted devices to shift the webs inopposite directions, and means for actuating the shaft.

5. In a railroad crossing a crossing rail consisting of a base sectionhaving longitudinal upstanding flanges, spaced webs slidably mountedbetween the flanges, a revoluble section interposed between the slidablesections, and means for simultaneously shifting the slidable sectionsapart and moving the revoluble section into alinement therewith.

(5. In a railroad crossing a rail consisting of spaced alining slidablesections, a guiding member therefor, an intermediate revolublel sectionmovable into or out of alinement with the slidable sections, andmechanism for shifting the slidable sections in opposite directionssimultaneously during the movement of the revoluble section into or outof alinement therewith.

7. In a railroad crossing a rail including a base section havingupstanding guide flanges, spacing means interposed between the flanges,there being channels between said spacing means, alining rails havingwebs slidably mounted within the channels, a revoluble actuating devicewithin the base section and between said sliding rails, means actuatedby the shaft for shifting the sliding rails simultaneously toward oraway from each other, and an intermediate rail section movable with theshaft into or out of alinement with the slidable rails.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

OLIVER POSTON.

